


Where Fireworks Grow

by SharpKatsudon



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Allura and Lance are Cousins, Cuban Lance, F/M, Family, Fireworks, Fluff and Angst, Keith and Shiro are Siblings, M/M, Memories, Multi, Other, Romance, Varadero, ancient friendship, in which Lotor is not bad, klance, klance fluff, matt and allura are a couple, relationships, varadero lance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-05
Updated: 2018-03-08
Packaged: 2019-02-28 17:59:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 16,026
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13276875
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SharpKatsudon/pseuds/SharpKatsudon
Summary: “Hey Keith…”“Hm?”“Can you promise that even after the summer ends, when you’ll be back to Phoenix, you won’t forget about me?”Keith felt his cheeks staining in red before he smiled while handing his little finger to Lance’s.“Pinkie swear”.Years after, Keith comes back to Varadero to keep his promise.





	1. A summer in Varadero

**Author's Note:**

> Okay guys...
> 
>  
> 
> For those who already know me from IG, y'all know how obsessed with Klance I am, and how 99% of my art is related to it. I've been thinking about taking this step for a while, after reading so many good fics, I thought it would be fun to do my own, so, here it is ! I want to apologize in advance for the possible mistakes as eng is not my native language, I'll do my best to provide quality work though.  
> I'll also make sure to always add fanarts to the story ! Also take time to check the underlined titles on youtube, these are the song for the fic's Soundtrack ! 
> 
> I hope you'll enjoy this first chapter !

 

 

“Laaaaaaance! Come back ! You’re getting too far from the rocks!”

Lance wasn’t listening, Hunk’s voice already seemed cloudy and distant, masked by the blowing wind and the quivering of the waves. He still couldn’t understand why everybody kept worrying about him when he was in the ocean. This place was like a shelter for him, a second home in which nothing bad could ever happen. The flow was gently lulling him while filling his eyes with colored wonders, a sight full of pigmented fishes and corals, the clear blue of the sky adding something special to this unreal universe, as if he was in some sort of suspended paradise.

Attracted by the depth’s call, Lance dived without hesitation, until his whole body progressively felt enveloped in the water. After a few seconds of darkness, he opened his eyes; his locks were floating from one side to the other, and in this moment, he felt like everything around him was frozen, as if nothing more could happen at the surface, because for him, the ocean was willing to stop it all.

“Laaaaance!”

It took a few seconds for him to hear Hunk’s distressed voice again, convincing him to reluctantly take his head out of the water.

“I’m here Hunk, look, I’m fine!” He shouted before to sigh of exasperation.

He quickly swimmed back to the beach before to worry his friend even more.

“You sure took your time! You could have been taken by the flow! Allura will be mad at you if she knows it!”

“But she’ll never know as nobody will ever tell her. Where’s Pidge?”

Hunk pointed a finger to a small corner circled by rocks, Lance turned his head and quickly saw the top of a small, white beach hat scattered of ginger locks shining under the sun.

When he reached it, he found the little Pidge, comfortably settled in a small puddle of salted water, busy playing with a crab passing by.

“Looks like she’s having fun, why did you call for me? Doesn’t look like she wants to get disturbed!” Lance observed with an amused smile.

“We’ve been at the beach for three hours, it’s almost 4 and I’m thirsty! Why wouldn’t we take a lemonade at the restaurant?”

Lance had another bored sigh before to nod.

“Fine, let’s go. Pidge, are you coming?”

He held out his hand to the little girl to help her as she was standing before to extract themselves from the heap of rocks and to go back to the beach’s entry.

 

 

 

 

On their way back, Lance couldn’t help but to throw a nostalgic look at the sea. No matter how close he lived to it, each afternoon ending sounded like a painful separation, and the wait until the day after always seemed never-ending.

“Don’t worry.” Hunk started.

Lance gave him a falsely upset look.

“We’ll go back tomorrow.” He ended.

Lance smiled to him. Hunk was his best friend, and therefore, he could alway read throughout his emotions. To the point that it sometimes was kind of disturbing.

Once they arrived on the restaurant’s terrace, Lance told Hunk to sit and to watch over Pidge until he came back with their lemonades. Too busy running to the kitchen, he didn’t notice the silhouette sat at the bar.

“Well Lance, are you  in such  a rush you can’t even say hello?”

The young boy stepped back to face the man who had called for him. An old man with an imposing yet funny mustache was smiling to him.

“Oh! Sorry Coran! We just came back from the beach and Hunk wants a lemonade ! Did you see Allura?”

“Hm, I think she’s in the back shop, she was waiting for a delivery. If you see her, can you ask for some violet syrup!” The old man asked, winking at Lance.

“I will! Thanks Coran!”

It didn’t take him too much time before he crashed again something, or rather, someone.

“Oh, Lance! Be careful! Don’t you see this is fragile?” Allura exclaimed, a box full of bottles in her arms.

“Sorry! I wasn’t paying attention ! We just came back from the beach and…”

“I could have guessed, you got sand in your hair!” She answered, softly passing her fingers through Lance’s chocolate locks. “Someone’s gonna get a bath young man!”

“Okay, but later ! Coran would like some violet syrup and Hunk and Pidge are waiting for a lemonade!”

“Okay, go sit and wait, did everything go well with Pidge? Matt will come to pick her up  at 7.”

“Yup! Everything was great!” Lance answered before to go back to the terrace. As he was passing by the bar again, he stopped next to Coran.

“She’s coming!”

“Good, thanks Lance ! I see I can always count on you!”

“Always Coran ! Bye !”

 

 

 

 

It was already 7. Hunk had been gone after his third lemonade and just a few minutes later, Matt had come to pick Pidge up.

“Thank you once again for watching over her Allura, with my classes prep and the help I’m giving my father at the observatory, I could have never found the time to take her to the beach!.”

“Lance is the one you should thank ! He takes her there each afternoon, in a few weeks you should see her splash around like a fish!”

Matt kneeled to Lance’s height before to give him a hand.

“Thank you, Lance, you’re really awesome with her, plus I know she loves to spend time with Hunk and you, you guys are also like brothers to her.”

“Oh that’s nothing ! Pidge is like a little sister to me ! Soon you’ll see, she’ll be swimming as well as me!”

“Can’t wait to see that!” Matt answered before to take Pidge in his arms, she had fallen asleep and he carefully placed her inside her child seat, making sure not to wake her up.

As Lance’s gaze was leaving the car, fading away on the road, he then turned it to Allura.

“He’s got a crush on you.” He whispered with a mocking grin.

Immediately taken aback from her daydream, Allura waved her head, probably to get rid of the blush on her cheeks before to take Lance by the arm.

“No way ! Matt’s just a friend. I’m just giving him a hand, and... That’s none of your business ! Time for the bath anyway!”

 

 

**Free! OST - Innocent Boy**

 

“Gosh Lance, you even have sand in your ears! How did you do that?!” Allura asked before to scrub harder.

“Stop that ! I’m 8, I can shower alone !” The small boy protested.

“Fine, I give up, but here’s the deal, if I see the least grain of sand on you, no beach tomorrow, got it?” She threatened with a sadistic grin before to leave the bathroom, humming while descending the stairs.

Suddenly terrified about the thought of being unable to swim again, Lance spent forty minutes more in his bath, making sure there was no sand left.

After Allura’s approval, Lance was lying on his bedroom’s rug, waiting for his cousin to call him for dinner. After twenty minutes, realizing she wasn’t coming for him, he decided to go down the stairs to see if she needed help.

While pushing the kitchen’s door, everything Lance could see was Allura’s furtive silhouette, running from one side of the kitchen to the other, obviously snowed under work. Too proud to accept the fact that she needed help, she had always refused to hire an employee. It impressed Lance as much as it was worrying him, because on nights like this one, she couldn’t take a break and was having a wild rhythm.

An idea then came up to Lance’s mind. He discreetly managed to reach the back shop where  the phone Allura was using for the deliveries was. After making sure she was too busy to come, he quickly composed a number and waited for an answer…

 

 

 

 

“Matt? What are you doing here? Did you forget some of Pidge’s stuff?” Allura asked, disconcerted to find the young man’s car parked behind the restaurant.

“Nothing like that, Lance called me and I came as soon as I could ! He told me you had a lot of clients tonight and that you’d like a little help so here I am!”

Allura tried as much as possible to hide her surprise before to turn to the back shop’s telephone, internally cursing Lance for doing such a thing behind her back. That damn brat…

“This is really nice of you Matt but I don’t want to make you lose your t….”

“You’re not! It’s my pleasure! Let me make myself useful! I can take care of the bar!”

As much as she refused to admit it, Allura cruelly needed some help, and after having thought for a moment about refusing again, she handed an apron to Matt before to take him to the bar. After having given a quick look to the meals on the kitchen’s stove she took a moment to climb to the apartment.  She directly went to the living room, where she found Lance, sitting on the floor, eating an iced cream he had probably found in the kitchen’s cold room.

“You could have told me about Matt.” She simply said with a falsely accusing tone.

“You needed help and I thought he would be glad to help since he’s in love with you…” the young boy answered without lifting his eyes from the television.

“Matt’s not in love with…” She started before to stop, leaving the sentence unfinished. Anyway, even with his help I’ll probably close late, I count on you to go to bed early, okay?”

Lance nodded before to get his whole attention back to the tv.

 

 

  **Blue Exorcist OST - AI**

 

After a few more episodes of his favorite show, he could feel the tiredness reach him and decided he should go to sleep if he wanted to have enough energy to be able to swim the day after.

After having switched off the light and sat comfortably into his bed, he took the projector placed on his bed table. It was a gift from Matt to thank him for taking care of Pidge, the device was not bigger than a table lamp, but could project a beautiful sea of stars on Lance’s walls and ceiling. He loved to fall asleep with this enchanting vision, it was like sleeping outside. If he focused enough, he could almost hear the waves’s sound. Just as when he was in the water, he was feeling suspended in some kind of paradise he was the only one to hold the key to.

Shortly before the restaurant’s closing, Allura took the time to go back to the apartment to see if Lance was in bed, when she found him asleep, fis face lightened by the stars that were reflecting on the ceiling, she couldn’t help but to smile. This little boy, he was all her life. Both their parents had perished in an accident four years ago, and although Lance had been too young to remember his own parents, Allura who was already twenty-two, had conserved the memories of hers. They were a couple of restaurateurs, with a passion for traveling, and after their death, she had given up on her studies to take care of the Altea, there was no way she was selling it. A change leading to another, she had also become Lance’s tutor, he was only four back then. This sudden life project had imposed to her without a warning, and yet, it was now the most precious thing she had, and when she was seeing Lance’s smile, she was telling herself she was doing a pretty good job.

After having turned the projector off, she came back to the restaurant where Matt was boxing the last clients.

“Thank you once again Matt, I don’t even know how I would have done without you…” She confessed, a little ashamed to admit it.

“I’m glad I could help you! Lance and you are taking care of Pidge so this is the least I could do! And, to be honest, it’s kinda cool! Be careful  cause I could get used to it and come back of my own will!”

When he heard Allura, laughing to what he had  said, Matt suddenly blushed, she really had the prettiest laugh he had ever heard. Matt was assisting his father at the town’s observatory, he had seen a huge number of stars, but none was as sparkling as Allura. He could have spent hours looking at her… But it was getting late and he had work waiting for him the day after. As he was about to go, Allura spontaneously offered him to drop Pidge off in the afternoon as Lance was intending to go back to the beach. He accepted before to leave, exhausted but glad to have been helpful to the girl he was in love with since high school.

 

 

 

 

The following day, it didn’t take long for Lance to wake up, when he was planning to go to the beach, he was  always making sure to keep being busy all the morning, this way, it felt like time was passing faster, and  he was getting closer to the ocean: he was taking a breakfast, helped Allura by washing the rest of dishes from the previous night, cleaned the apartment a little bit, watched a few episodes of Voltron, his favorite show… Anything to make the hours feel like minutes and the minutes like seconds. When the clock finally marked 2pm, Lance came down the stairs, hearing Matt’s car parking in the street to drop Pidge off. Soon joined by Hunk, the three kids immediately left for the beach. As Lance was running ahead, Hunk who was taking Pidge’s hand a few yards behind shouted:

“You know Lance, there’s no need to run, the waves will still be there when we’ll arrive”.

Lance wasn’t listening, all he could think of was the time he will spend in the water. The silence broken by the quivering of the waves, the streams of foam that would crawl to his feet to welcome him back.

As they were reaching the beach, Lance suddenly pulled a grimace of displeasure: the beach was packed. Hats and parasols were covering the ground to such an extent that it was almost impossible to see the sand. And the ocean was invaded by colored bikinis and big rubber rings.

“Damn tourists…” He cursed between his teeth. “We can still go to the other side of the beach” he added, turning his feet to walk again.

“Uh… The part of the beach that is not watched ? But swimming there is forbidden Lance!”

He wasn’t listening anymore, already heading to their new destination. Hunk and Pidge followed without a protest.

Lance was right, this side of the beach was completely empty, a little colder than the main coast, it was way less appreciated by tourists as the wind was blowing harder there. But to Lance, it was perfect, so much space just for the three of them, this was almost a dream, he didn’t lost anytime and started to take his shirt off when Hunk exclaimed:

“Wait! We can’t go swim and leave Pidge alone!”

“Of course we can’t, which is why you will take care of her!”

“Not fair! We should decide with rock/paper/scissors to see who will go swim first!”

“Works for me!” Lance accepted, way to confident about his victory.

 

 

**Lauren Aquilina - King **

 

Sitting in the sand, Lance was watching Hunk swimming, envious. He never thought of the possibility of losing… Pidge was next to him, trying her best to maintain her sandcastle steady, looking incredibly focused. Lance couldn’t help but to smile, because when she was focused, Pidge was looking a lot like Matt.

After several attempts and Lance’s help, the construction was finally staying in place, now they just needed to decorate it.

“Huuuunk!” Lance shouted, “I’m going with Pidge to look for shells for her castle, we’ll be back!”

“I’m not going anywhere!” Hunk shouted back, letting himself float on the surface while waving at them.

Lance took Pidge by the hand, taking her bucket with him and started to look for some shells to brighten up the sand architectura.

As they were venturing to a small heap of rocks, Lance heard a voice coming from behind it.

“C’mon, get in ! It’s not cold at all!”

Led by his curiosity, Lance couldn’t help but to lift his head up to take a quick look.

A guy, probably of the same age as Allura was bathing, waving at someone to join him. First ‘offended’ to see that his little ‘secret place’ was actually occupied, Lance then found himself taken with admiration. The brown haired man was excessively tall, very muscled, with a squared jawline and a nice gaze in spite of his imposing stature.

After having taken a quick look behind him to make sure Pidge was doing okay, Lance stepped a little further to see who the man was talking to.

Sitting on the sand, in a cross-legged position, the face hidden by her hair was a little girl, she was visibly pouting, refusing to get in the water. Lance immediately noticed her long black strands, covering her face. As the boy kept telling her the water was warm, she was waving her head from side to side, obviously decided to stay on the dry land.

Lance was so busy trying to see the little girl’s face he didn’t pay attention to Pidge’s bucket when it fell into the rocks, making a muffled sound.  The brown haired boy turned his head. First taken of panic, Lance thought of hiding before to realize that, it was “his place” after all and that he had nothing to be scared or ashamed of.

“Hi!” The tall boy said, with a wave of his hand.

First disconcerted, Lance finally waved back.

Intrigued as well, the little girl turned her head, and Lance could finally see her eyes. Two big amethysts in which the sun was reflecting.

Suddenly, without even knowing how or why, Lance took Pidge by the hand and let his steps take him to the other side of the rocks, in order to join the little girl on the beach while the young boy was getting out of the water.

As Pidge was examining the tall man with her big golden eyes, Lance stepped closer to the girl, back in her previous position, her legs crossed, her head pointed to the ground.

“You know, a lot of girls are afraid of the sea, but you got nothing to be scared of here, the ocean’s great!”.

As the young boy was reaching them, the girl quickly turned her head to Lance who was smiling to her. Her lips slightly opened and in an instant she exclaimed:

“What are you talking about?! I’m a boy you idiot!”

“Keith!” The man retorted, visibly displeased by the little boy’s reaction. “You can’t shout at people like that!”

“But Shiro! You heard him! He mistook me for a girl!”

Without replying, Shiro extended his giant hand to Lance.

“Please, excuse my little brother, he’s got kind of a fiery temperament… My name’s Takashi, but you can call me Shiro.”

Too busy registering the fact that Keith was actually a boy and not a girl, Lance took a couple of seconds before to take Shiro’s hand.

“Uh, I’m Lance!”

“Nice to meet you Lance, and, who’s this young lady with you?” Shiro asked, looking at Pidge’s ginger locks, hidden behind Lance’s shirt, too intimidated to say hi.

“This is Pidge! Her brother is helping my cousin at her restaurant so Hunk and I are taking care of her!”

“Hunk?” Shiro asked, a little perplexed.

“Laaaaaaaaance!” Hunk was shouting while arriving from the other side of the rocks. When he didn’t see Lance coming back, he probably worried and decided to get out of the water to look for him.

“I guess this is Hunk?”

“Yup! He’s my best friend!” Lance proudly precised.

Keith wasn’t taking part to the conversation but he sure was listening to it, he was also taking the time to observe all of these strangers suddenly invading his space. The so called Hunk didn’t look like a bad guy, but he couldn’t get over the fact that this Lance had mistaken him for a girl.

After Shiro had introduced himself to Hunk, he asked the boys if they were familiar with the area.

“Sure! We are both from Varadero! Well… Not Pidge, her parents and her brother were living in the US before to move here, but she was too young to remember so, it’s like she was born in Cuba too!”

“I see, we are from the US too, isn’t it Keith?”

No answer… Keith was persisting to pout. Shiro made a little embarrassed laugh before to go on:

“Lance, you were talking about a restaurant? Weren’t you?”

“Yes! My cousin’s restaurant! The Altea! She got the best one in Varadero!”

“Well, we didn’t lunch and I thought we could go somewhere to eat, you hear that Keith? Sounds good doesn’t it?”

Keith threw a killer look to Lance before to answer.

“I’m not hungry.”

“Well, I sure am, and I really want to see this restaurant so, here we go!” He said before to put his shirt on.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hunk, Lance and Pidge were walking a few steps ahead of Shiro and Keith, Lance had tried to get him to talk during the walk, but it was impossible to get anything out of his mouth. He was walking next to his brother, emotionless, still pouting.

“C’mon, stop being so stubborn” Shiro sighed. “These kids look cool, you could make yourself some friends as we’re gonna spend the summer here, it could be fun, and you’ll have plenty of summer memories”.

“No chance I’m being friend with him.” Keith mumbled, talking about Lance who pretended not to hear.

“There we are!” Lance exclaimed once they were in front of the restaurant’s entry. “Go and get a sit at the terrace, I’m gonna tell my cousin’s we’re here!”

As the little groupe was doing as told, Lance joined Allura at the bar.

“Well, you’re coming back quite early today”. She noticed. “Nothing bad happened with Pidge?”

“Not at all! We met a boy and his brother, and they were looking for a place to eat so I took them here!”

Intrigued, Allura followed Lance to the terrace, ready to take the orders. As she was reaching the table, Keith’s brother felt his cheeks burning, and the closer she was getting the hotter they felt.

“Are you alright? Allura asked. “You seem to be hot, I hope you didn’t catch an sunstroke, the sun can hit pretty hard here”.

The confident Shiro Lance had met a little sooner seemed to have faded, leaving  an intimidated young boy instead.

“Uh… Yes, I mean, No! I mean, I’m fine and…”

“Lance told me you were looking for a place to eat, considering the time, I can show you the desserts list?” She cut him, giving him a smile. Shiro felt like he was melting.

“Waffle!” Pidge suddenly exclaimed enthusiastically.

“Yes, waffles would be great.” Shiro answered, relieved to see her could still  manage to form  coherent sentences.

“With vanilla ice cream!” Hunk added.

“Same for me!” Retorted Lance.

Allura then turned to Keith, waiting for him to order. The young boy was on his seat, still refusing to talk to anybody. Disconcerted, Allura turned to Shiro to get some help.

“A lemonade for my little brother, he’s a little shy…” He excused himself.

“No problem ! I’ll get you all of this!”

As Shiro was reluctantly watching Allura leave, and as Hunk was taking care of Pidge, Lance was observing Keith. Listless on his chair, he was staring at the floor, his eyebrows frowned. It appeared obvious he really didn’t want to be there.

Shyly, Lance tried to get closer by sitting in the chair next to him. Getting no reaction, he understood that instead of getting mad at him, the boy had simply decided to ignore him.

 

 

 

**Free! OST - Old Days**

 

Once all the waffles and lemonades were served, everybody was enjoying a well deserved snack. Everybody except Keith who, although he was still protstrate on his seat, couldn’t help but to give furtive looks at the others’s plates. Lance noticed him, and cut a piece of his waffle, before to hand his fork to Keith who wasn’t expecting such an action. Conversations had ceased on the table, and everybody was waiting to see which reaction the small boy will have.

“Give it a try!” Lance insisted, leaning his fork a little closer.

Keith hesitated. His stubbornness had him deprived of a good snack, and although he had affirmed the contrary back on the beach, he was actually getting hungry… But the thought of accepting a gift from Lance, who he barely knew, and who had mistaken him for a girl kept on bothering him. However, he felt Shiro’s gaze upon him, and told himself he couldn’t keep ruining his brother’s holidays by walling himself up in an endless silence.

He mechanically opened his mouth and took the piece of waffle, swallowing it quickly, before to take back is previous position on his chair. Lance smiled at him, amused to see that his obstination could get actually get broken,  he then cut the rest of his waffle in half, moving his plate forward, inviting him to share. As the black haired boy accepted and started to eat, Lance congratulated himself for this first victory. Maybe Keith and him could be friends after all.

After everybody was finished, Allura took advantage of the lack of clients to come and chat a little with them. While listening to her conversation with Shiro, Lance learned that Keith and him were living in Phoenix in Arizona, they had lost their parents, and Shiro was taking care of Keith. Just like Allura was doing with him. He loved to spend his summers abroad, traveling, discovering, and this year, he had decided to take Keith to Varadero. They were planning to stay all summer.

“Then you’ll be there for the ‘Sparkling night’. Said Allura.

“Sparkling night?” Shiro repeated.

“Each summer ending, there’s a small festival organized on Varadero beach, they throw fireworks to mark the season’s ending.

“Do you hear that Keath? Sounds nice!”

No answer…

“We could go together!” Lance offered.

“Why not, I always close the restaurant during the festival’s night to enjoy the show, we usually go with Matt, Pidge’s brother.”

“Matt!” Pidge exclaimed when she heard her brother’s name.

“We will gladly come.” Shiro accepted.

 

 

  **Stereo Dive Foundation - Daisy**

 

 

The evening was slowly falling on the beach, and clients were progressively arriving at the restaurant when Shiro and Keith were about to leave. Allura offered them to come back for dinner, so they could try some local food, an offer Shiro gladly accepted. As he was thanking her once again, Keith was waiting for his brother outside of the terrace, his arms crossed, looking at the sea.

“Hey…”

Keith jumped, surprised by Lance’s presence. He was standing in front of him, hands behind his back, his head low, as if he was suddenly intimidated.

“What do you want?”

“I…”

Keith threw him an impatient look.

“I’m sorry for… You know… Mistaking you for a girl.”

Confronted to Keith’s silence, he extended a hand to him.

“Can we make peace?”

Keith took a couple of seconds to gaze upon the hand that was offered to him… Then, without a word, he quickly took it and firmly hold it.


	2. Boxes and photographs

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys ! 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of this fic, a MASSIVE Thanks to @weirdarielstrashy who corrected my text (as mentionned in the previous notes, I'm french, english is not my native language so they might be a few mistakes, sorru 'bout that).  
>  I'm so excited to release the other chapters (I'm actually releasing one each time the following is ready, this way I'm never out of content) but it sometimes might take a little time as I'm making sure to draw at least 1 fanart to feature the chapter ! Anyway, enjoy "Boxes and Photographs" and I'll see you at the bottom of the page!

 

**Coldplay - Hurts Like Heaven**

 

“And… There we go! This was the last box of discs!” Keith sighed while putting the heavy cardboard on the ground of his half empty bedroom.

“Can you tell me once again why you absolutely want to pack your stuff now?” Shiro asked, putting a box down too.

“Because I rather get rid of it now than thinking about it all summer to do it at the very end. I also called the moving company.”

“It’s still hard to believe you’re gonna leave…” Shiro sighed, displaying a little sad smile.

Keith, leaned against the door frame of the room moved towards his brother.

“You know… Albuquerque is only two hours away by flight. It’s practically next to Phoenix, and you’ll be able to-”

“To visit you often, I know.” Shiro ended.

“And… I’m only leaving at the end of the summer, we still got two months to make this Yellowstone hike you couldn’t stop talking about!” Keith mocked while going to the living room to pack another box. Shiro answered:

“I think I will never get used to the idea of seeing you growing up.”

“Stop that. You’re talking like some old fashioned dad”.

Shiro didn’t reply and instead, simply smiled before to pet Keith’s head.

“Hey!”

“When you were younger, you hated that too, it’s cool to see some things never change.”

“Very nice of you. Is that all that’s left?” Keith asked, gesturing with his eyes to the remaining boxes on the table.

“I think there are still a few boxes left in the closet, probably old stuff but, still you should check it out.”

Keith walked nonchalantly to the closet’s door, he didn’t feel like he had ever put anything in  there, but he really didn’t want to realize he had forgotten something once in Albuquerque. He slowly pulled the door.

Three boxes, piled one above the other were forming the only closet’s content. The first ones were only full of papers: old receipts, certificates copies…

The third box seemed lighter, older too, covered in a thin layer of dust. Keith kneeled to open it. The first thing he found inside was a small colored figurine. No matter how hard he was trying to remember, he couldn’t find out where it was coming from. He was pretty sure he had never been into this type of toys as a kid. Still, the figurine looked kind of familiar to him.

Under it were a dozen of envelopes, apparently, the letters were still inside, the paper was a little yellowing, and the ink half faded, but Keith could still read a part of the sender’s address, “Varadero, Cuba”.

“Shiro?”

Shiro was backing onto the kitchen’s counter, taking a break, drinking a beer. When he saw Keith with the box in his hands, he threw him a perplexed look.

“Hey, do we know anybody in Cuba?”. His brother asked, handing him the bunch of letters, putting the cardboard on the counter.

Shiro took a look at it  before a huge smile painted on his face from one cheek to the other.

“Gosh! I didn’t think we still had it!”

As Keith was waiting for his brother’s explanations, he took the figurine out of the box.

“I can’t believe it, the Voltron’s model is still here too!”

“Do you remember where does it come from?”

“Of course, it was a gift from Lance!”

Shiro’s answer didn’t seem to satisfy Keith, he kept on gazing at the toy, trying to understand…

“Lance?”

“Yes! Lance! C’mon, don’t tell me you don’t remember. It was our summer at Varadero beach in Cuba!” Shiro enthusiastically replied.

Keith took back the envelopes from his hands and started to nervously skim them, hoping the muddled memories in it would resurface. What he didn’t see was that the last letter was actually a photograph. When he touched the coated paper, Keith stopped skimming and took a moment to look at it.

The picture had visibly been taken by night, the lighting was a little blurred by the flash of some light source that was reflecting on the children’s faces present on the shot. Posing in front of some outdoor stand, a young boy with long brown hair was making a huge smile, he was standing behind a small  little girl, she was dressed in a long white dress, her ginger hair was falling over her shoulders and she looked busier looking at the photographer than at the lens itself.

On the very right, Keith immediately recognized himself, this puny little boy, with a pale complexion and his face hidden behind big black strands of hair couldn’t help but make him cringe. What a sight… But, a in a few seconds, his gaze was automatically redirected to the boy next to him. He was showing a tanned, golden skin, a slightly mocking smile, and two big expressive blue eyes. He was standing close to Keith, an arm around his shoulders.

As he kept on scanning the photograph looking for answers, Keith felt Shiro’s shadows above him.

“Ah, yes, I remember this picture, it was during this festival, the one with fireworks. Hm, what was the name, can’t even find it again…”

“The sparkling night…” Keith whispered to himself as the name suddenly made its way back to his mind.

“Yes! That’s it! Wow, I’m surprised you remember this! Lance’s cousin had taken us there and if my memory’s right this little girl’s brother was the one who took the photo.” He said, pointing the ginger haired girl.

Keith was barely listening, his memories were slowly coming back… Especially one scene of which the tones and colors were progressively painting themselves in his mind, like some old watercolor painting being restored gradually.

 

 

**Free! ES OST: Our Promise**

 

_ “I love fireworks… Lance whispered, his gaze turned to the sky. _

_ They had been allowed to move away from the festival. Lance had said he knew a place on the beach from where they could clearly see the fires blow up. Here they were now, contemplating the starry sky. _

_ Anxious to ruin the moment, Keith let him go on. _

_ “They look like flowers growing and hatching out in the sky.” _

_ Keith nodded in silence, most of the time, he thought Lance was talking way, way too much, but right now,  he was feeling incredibly impressed by his friend’s words. And it was way too beautiful to stop him from continuing. He focused on the fireworks, trying not to think about the summer’s end. _

_ “Hey Keith…” _

_ Keith turned his head to his friend’s. _

_ “Hm?” _

_ The brown haired boy gave him a heavy look, too heavy for a boy of his age, a hopeful look. _

_ “Can you promise that after the summer ends, when you’ll be back to Phoenix, you won’t forget about me?” _

_ Keith felt his cheeks painting themselves in red before to smile and to hand his pinkie to Lance’s. _

_ “Pinkie swear”. _

 

“Lance…” Keith whispered, finally recalling.

“I remember that after we came back home, you were inconsolable. You didn’t want to live in Phoenix anymore. I didn’t know what to do, you were even talking less than before! And then, the first letters arrived…” Shiro explained while opening one of the envelopes before to hand its content to Keith. “You should keep it, these are precious memories after all, and who knows, you might even want to read them again later.”

Keith nodded before to take the box to his room.

  
  
**Vancouver Sleep Clinic - Vapour**   
  


Sitting on the edge of his bed, the box set by his side, Keith kept on reading. He had been too curious not to read the letters, these letters his childhood friend and him had exchanged. Although he was  sometimes cringing while noticing the crossing outs and the badly spelled words, he felt a calming feeling take over him, some warmth to each new envelope he was opening.

 

_ “Hey Keith ! How are you doing? I hope your Christmas was good in Phoenix! Do you got snow there? Matt says it rarely snows in Arizona? Here, we don’t have snow, but it rains so much Allura doesn’t want me to go swim! I hope you’re taking care of my Voltron defender! Remember, we are paladins! We must protect the universe!” _

 

Keith marked a pause, letting a small laugh get out of his throat. If the young Lance of his childhood had found out the figurine he loved to much had been spending years covering in dust in some old dark closet he would have gone mad.

 

_ “Will you come back to Varadero next summer? We’ll go to the beach again ! With Hunk and Pidge! She’s better than ever at swimming ! I’ll try to take pics to show you! We’ll go see the fireworks again!” _

 

“But I never came back…” Keith whispered, surprising himself to think out loud.

A few other letters followed, sometimes accompanied with photographs, Lance was talking about everything and anything, his school days, Allura and the restaurant, Pidge’s swimming progresses… And always this question, coming back at the end of every mail: _ “Will you come back to Varadero next summer?” _

If he had asked so many times, Keith thought that he had probably never given the answer, whether he didn’t know himself or whether he knew he would never go back and didn’t want to disappoint Lance. At the time, Shiro never wanted to go to the same place twice, and there was no way he would have let his little brother take a flight alone to go to Cuba for a whole summer.

“I’m sorry Lance…” Keith whispered before to carefully put the pack of envelopes back into the box.

  
  
  


**Kuzu No Honkai OST - Starting Out Somehow**

 

“Will you come back?”

Keith turned his head, a voice was coming from behind him,and a sound… A quivering oddly familiar, slowly heading towards him…

“Will you come back Keith?”

His eyes were examining the sights, there was nothing to be seen but the void, a blue, stormy void… And in the middle, a few miles from him, a small silhouette, vague, imprecise. Yet, there was something he could perfectly see. The striking glow of two big blue eyes, throwing an overwhelming gaze upon him. 

Keith was now panting, struggling to breathe. He was almost scared to call for the silhouette… 

“L-”

“Will you come back to Varadero?”

“Lance..?”

The sound of the waves was now perfectly clear, they were getting even closer. He started running hopeless to reach the small boy waiting for him, before the waves devour him. 

“Lance !”

He was getting closer, he could slowly start to distinguish his friend’s features, his golden skin, his brown locks… His blue eyes… 

“You promised!”

“Lance! Look!  I’m here!”

Keith extended his hand towards the child, ready to catch his small hand, smiling at him.

The tip of his fingers was now a few inches from touching his...

“You promised Keith!”

“Lance?”

The small hand he was about to hold was now fading. Fading into foam... Evaporating in the air, and the second after, giant waves were crashing down on him....

  
  


“What?!”

Keith jumped in his bed. Eyes wide open, a thin trickle of sweat raining down his brow. His chest heaved for air. He lazily took his phone to check the time, the light blinded him. It was almost three and he couldn’t find sleep. When his eyes were closing, the waves racket was coming back with Lance’s voice. Although he didn’t want to admit it, a part of him was getting eaten up by guilt and nostalgy. The memories he had managed to get back with the letters  had recalled him of how strong his bond with Lance was back then. How could have he forgotten about him? Sure, he had never been a very sociable child, and as Shiro had said, when they had been back to Phoenix, he had felt even lonelier than before. But why had the letters stopped? Why did  Lance, Hunk, Pidge, Allura, the restaurant, the afternoons on the beach, the fireworks have been so easily erased from his past?

Irritated to think about so many questions without even being able to find the right answers, Keith straightened up in his bed, the curiosity, the need to know what had these people become, especially Lance was now taking over him. He took his laptop on his bed table, switched it on and went to look for informations.

  
  


He almost spent the entire night going through social networks, from the most famous to the most quirky, looking for a young boy with chocolate locks and a bright smile. Aside from a few press articles about the Altea or the Observatory, he didn’t find anything particularly satisfying about Lance. Nothing that could indicate what was his life now.

After having set the laptop back on the table, Keith inhaled deeply, trying not to let deception surround him. He needed it though, this vital need to know. But what more could he do…

  
  
**Mikky Ekko - Smile**

 

 

“What do you mean you’re going to Cuba?!”

Shiro almost choked on his milk, setting his glass  on the table scared to make it fall because of the shock.

Keith nonchalantly swallowed a spoonful of cornflakes.

“Yes. Tomorrow.”

Shiro, about to lose his temper, took a few seconds to cool down. This sudden summer plan seemed like some sort of whim, a caprice. However, Keith was 18, he was free to go if he wanted to, and maybe it was time for Shiro to get rid of his “old fashioned, overprotective father” figure.

“This has to do with that box you found yesterday.” He affirmed.

“Yes, and no. I would like to… I mean, our summer there is one of my best memories as a kid, so I thought i’d be cool to go back before september.”

“Talking about boxes, you’re not done packing your stuff for college.”

“I’m practically done, I’ll do this when I’ll come back.”

“How long do you plan on staying there?”

Keith paused before to reply, how could he know? His idea was to go to Varadero, to see if Lance was still living there, but… What if he wasn’t? Then what? Would he spend the whole summer in a place that would only be made of faded memories?

“No, I mean, I’ll see, I still don’t know.”

“Well, doesn’t sound like a very well planned one-man trip.”

Keith raised his eyebrows.

“One-man? That means you’re letting me go, and you’re not coming with me?”

Shiro gave him a paternal smile.

“I think you’re old enough to travel alone, and after all the trips we made together, I know you’re more than prepared to face mishaps.”

He stood from the table, and before to pass the door, stopped to put a hand on Keith’s shoulder.

“And… I got the feeling that’s a journey you gotta do on your own.”

Keith stared at him, disconcerted. Shiro truly knew how to figure out everything he couldn’t tell. Probably an old-bro thing.

“But-”

Keith threw him a worried look.

“I’m taking you to the airport, and that is non negotiable.” He ended with a wink.

“Doesn’t look like I got the choice!” Keith answered with a mocking grin.

  
  


Drowned in the  multitude of faces and malettes loudly rolling on the floor, Keith was feeling a little bit lost, Shiro’s presence was cooling him down of course, but this would be the very first time he would travel alone, to spend an indeterminate time in a place, alone… At this moment, he realized that since their parent’s death, he had never been separated from Shiro who had always made sure to handle his older brother’s role seriously, constantly watching over him. And the thought of leaving without him was lightly staining the excitement he was feeling about starting his search for Lance. 

When the passengers of the Varadero flight were called to embark, Shiro took Keith in his arms and hold him so tight Keith could hear his heartbeats. He suddenly understood how worried his brother actually was to see him leave.

“Be careful, okay?”

“Sure, I’ll call you as soon as I’ll land.”

Shiro took a last look at his little brother’s face, before to let him go. When he saw the flight take off, he couldn’t help but to think about their parents.

On his side, Keith was trying to get used to the feeling of having nobody familiar sat next to him on the plain. On the small screens disposed in front of the seats, he could read the time distance between Phoenix and Varadero. Ten hours. Ten long hours during which he could think about his reunion with Lance….

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still there ? Nice ! 
> 
> So, what did you guys think about this one? Do you think Keith will find what he's looking for ? Is he right to leave on his own? What do you expect for the next chapter?


	3. Reunion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FINALLY.
> 
> I'm so so sorry for taking so fucking long to update this chapter, I actually went throught the first art block of my life and this was worse than I thought it would be! I'll try to release chapter 4 as quick as possible, and I hope that you'll like this third chapter as much as the previous ones!   
> Once again a massive thank you to @thedreamer134 for helping me with my shitty grammar ! <3

**Mikky Ekko - Kids**

 

Hunk had now been staring at the kitchen’s shelf for ten long minutes, he was patiently scrutinizing the spices jars, looking for some mistake he could fix.

“You know Hunk, if you weren’t coming so early, you would really have some work to do and you wouldn’t spend your time organizing, disorganizing and re organizing these shelfs.” Matt pointed out while passing from the kitchen to the bar, a box in his hands.

“I’m sure I can find a tidying system even more effective than this one ! I just need to think a little more about it!”

“You could think about it at home, It makes me uncomfortable to see you here while there’s not a single client!”

“Oh don’t you worry about me Matt!” Hunk answered, smiling to him. “I feel good here! Whether it’s empty or full of people!”

“Well then, will you give me a hand? We got a meat delivery, can you take it to the cold room?” Matt asked, pointing to  a box on the backshop’s table.

“Consider it done!”

  
  
  
  
  


After a few unsuccessful attempts to find sleep, Keith had spent the rest of the flight wide awake, awake and terribly anxious. The departure had given him the opportunity to think about what he would do once in Varadero: find a place to sleep, call Shiro, find the Altea, find Lance… A plan that sounded quite coherent and easy to follow. Or at least it was until the plane's descent was announced. As he was feeling the ground getting closer, dozens of questions were progressively assaulting him. What if the press articles were too old? What if the Altea wasn’t there anymore? What if all of his friends had moved? What if Lance didn’t remember him? What if he remembered but  didn’t want to see him? What if?

“Stop”.

He tried his best to block all of these parasite thoughts as the hostess’s voice was announcing the arrival at Varadero’s airport.

 

After getting his stuff back (which only consisted in a small sport bag), he headed anxiously to the airport’s exit, still struggling to convince himself that he had been right to come. Before to pass through the automatic doors, he threw a quick look to the flight board, maybe there was one that could fly him back to Phoenix. As his eyes started to browse the panel, looking for a familiar place, he suddenly turned back.

“C’mon Keith, make an effort, you came here, you can’t give up now.” He whispered to himself.

  
  


It took him a few more minutes  to get out of the building, he then found a bus that was going straight to the  _ Playa Caleta _ , a hotel at Varadero’s entry, the occasion for him to find a place to stay and get some rest. As the vehicle was passing through the sunny streets of the beach resort, Keith was pressing his head against the bus’s window pane, finding back some pieces of his memories: days spent running along the avenues, ice-cream trucks by the beach, a group of children laughing before to dive into the bright deep blue.

Once he reached the hotel, Keith quickly got out of the bus. Arrived, at last. Now all he needed to do was to book a room and to take a moment to reassure Shiro. Knowing him, he was probably trying to hide his concern by distracting himself with some intense work out session, constantly keeping an eye on his phone, scared of missing a call.

Before to enter the hotel’s courtyard, Keith scanned the sights. The main road was tracing Varadero’s promenade, mainly surrounded by more hotels and some restaurants. And then, suddenly, the place looked kind of… Familiar. At the end of the promenade, a few streets before the museum, there was a familiar place. A restaurant. A small beach restaurant, with an elevated terrace and a dining room circled by huge patio doors, lighting the place up.

Without even noticing, like unconsciously carried, Keith walked away from the Playa Caleta, heading to the main road, sure of his steps, his eyes never stopping to look at the horizon, looking for a huge blue front window.

  
**Josef Salvat - Open Season**

 

“Damn, it’s already 10 and there’s not even a cat, how is this possible!” Hunk complained while slumping on the bar’s counter. Matt gave him a sympathetic look while drying out the glass he had just washed.

“I warned you, you’re coming way too early. You know clients never get here before 12.”

“Well, they should get their asses here earlier so they can get a taste of my awesome cooking. What am I going to do while waiting?”

“Why don’t you go out and join Pidge? She’s probably at the museum.”

Hunk considered the option for a few seconds, before to stand up and to go back to the kitchen.

“Nah, thanks, gonna do the inventory instead!”

“Inventory? But you already…”

Hunk was already gone.

Matt made an amused look, before to go back to his own task. He was so focused on what he was doing he didn’t even hear the steps shyly moving towards him.

“Uh, excuse me?”

Matt lifted his head up, a young man was standing on the other side of the bar, apparently freshly landed, regarding the sport bag he was holding. “Probably here to get some tan, he needs it.” Matt thought after taking a quick look at his pale skin. He wasn’t very tall, still he had an athletic figure, his face was partially hidden between his hair, long black strands, still Matt could see the surprisingly bright shades of purple of his eyes. The rest of his hair was tied in a messy bun, and he was looking all around him, as if he was scanning the place.

“Yes? May I help you?”

The young man’s gaze came back to Matt.

“Hi, excuse me, is this the Altea?”

“It is, are you looking for someone? Is it for an article?”

“No,no. Actually I’m looking for…. Uh… Is…”

Matt was perplex, the guy was obviously uncomfortable, tripping over words and gesturing awkwardly. 

Hunk, busy doing the inventory didn’t immediately hear the conversation that was taking place in the other room, to be honest, he wasn’t really paying attention, until he heard the name of-

“Lance, I’m looking for Lance McClain, I was wondering if he was still living here?”

 

Matt gave him a surprised look, “Still living here?” What did it mean?” Hunk was now wondering the same, secretly listening.

“Lance is not here, you can wait for him he’ll probably…”

“No!” The voice cut in a nervous tone. “It’s nothing, I’ll come back later.”

“Maybe you  can leave him a message?Give me your name and I’ll tell him you tried to reaching him?”

A short silence paused the conversation, before the guy’s voice came back.

“Keith.”

Hunk suddenly turned his head to the dining room.

“Keith Kogane, I’m… I’m an old friend of Lance and…”

“KEITH!”

Matt stopped writing the name on the piece of paper he had found on the counter, too overtaken by Hunk’s sudden reappearance, he had ran to the bar, a stunned expression over his face, as if he had seen some sort of ghost. He turned his gaze back to the young man, noticing the same expression in his eyes. 

“H-Hunk?”

“Keith ! Man! I can’t believe it! This is you? This is really you? Isn’t it?! Of course it’s you! But, woah! You didn’t even change! I mean no, of course you’re different, I mean, not too much because I recognized you and… Is your hair longer?! Do you often tie it up like that? Because you weren’t doing it back then ! It suits you right! And, when did you arrive?! It’s crazy because…”

“So you guys know each other?” Matt interrupted, trying his best to contain the endless flow of words escaping from his friend’s mouth.

As Keith was about to answer, another voice came up from behind him. A woman’s voice.

“What’s all that noise for?” She asked.

Keith turned back to face a familiar silhouette, tall, slender, with thick silver hair looking like cotton, tied in a bun, and two big blue eyes, just like Lance’s.

“Allura?” Keith whispered, surprised to see her for real instead of the few press articles he had found.

“Do I know you?”

“Don’t you recognize him Allura?! It’s Keith!” Hunk exclaimed, still a little... well, extremely euphoric.

Hands on her hips, her head slightly tilted to the side, Allura stared at the young man for a few seconds without saying a word, before her eyes grew wider and wider.

“Keith?! You mean?!”

Without even ending her sentence, she came closer to him until their faces were just a few inches away, and, suddenly she cupped Keith’s face in her hands, scrutinizing each one of his features.

“Dios mio, this is really you, nobody else got those amethyst eyes.” She said in a whisper, visibly quite moved.

Keith was trying his best to contain the blush that was about to color his cheeks, terribly uncomfortable to get so much attention. Allura took her hands off his face before to join Matt who was still waiting for some logic answers on the other side of the bar.

“It’s Takashi Shirogane’s brother, you know, that super tall guy who had come to the festival with us when you were still working at the observatory.”

Keith was surprised, sounded like she was remembering Shiro.

“You know, he was spending all the time playing with Lance.”

When he heard his name, Keith felt shivers running down his spine.

“Ah! Yes! I got it now! Man! I could have never found it back on my own!” Matt exclaimed.

“It was a few years ago.” Allura answered. “I never thought I would see you here again.”

“Me neither!” Hunk continued. “Lance’s gonna be so hyped about this!”

“Lance? Is he still here?”

“Of course. Where do you want him to go? Come here, let’s get you some coffee.” Allura offered.

  
**Priscilla Ahn - Fine on the Outside**

 

Sitting on the Altea’s terrace with Hunk, Allura and Matt, Keith felt like he was diving back into the memories surrounding his time here. He was literally dying to know more, to take the time to precisely examine the faces of all these people he had known, yet, something was stopping him. Some sort of discomfort. It looked like nobody had left Cuba after his departure, and coming back the way he had, like some stranger everybody’s struggling to remember at first sight, was making him terribly uncomfortable. Allura handed him a cup of coffee, before to fill her own with tea.

“Who could have said I would see you again, sorry for not recognizing you straight away, but you sure grew up and changed a lot!”.

Keith addressed her a shy little smile, thinking about the photographs he had found in Phoenix, he realized he had indeed, changed. He couldn’t say so of Allura. Of course, years had given her a few marks, but she was still the same as the girl he had met when he was a child. Just as beautiful, smiling, luminous. 

Hunk hadn’t changed that much either. He still had this warm, reassuring smile, supplanted by two big brown eyes, and he still had this big orange bandana keeping his long brown strands to fall over his eyes. Keith remembered that Shiro had suggested him to get the same hairstyle, an offer he had categorically refused, too relieved to have his big black locks to hide himself from the world when he needed to. 

He hadn’t seen Matt a lot as a child, of course Pidge was spending a lot of time with Lance, Hunk and him back then, and the resemblance was more than obvious, but the young man used to spend most of his time locked in the observatory working with his father and thus, it was hard to Keith to precisely remember him.

“I admit it’s a little awkward, to be here, after all these years…”

“That I can believe, I’m surprised your brother’s not with you, I know he loves to travel, I hope nothing serious kept him from coming ?”

“Oh no ! No, he’s fine ! Actually I was…

He paused, feeling the three pairs of eyes upon him. Suddenly, it seemed impossible to explain the reason of his presence. Not that he was scared to be labeled as some crazy stalker (although he was actually becoming one to this point), but because he was scared of seeing his hopes getting crushed. And which hopes by the way? What was he concretely hoping for by coming to Varadero? Lance was still there, that was a fact, but, he hadn’t seen him yet, maybe he would never. Thinking about the way Allura had been disconcerted when seeing how changed he was, he then thought that, his childhood friend had probably changed too. What was the interest of being here then?

And yet, there he was, sat on the Altea’s terrace, about to get his bond back with a part of his past... Just as when he was in the airport earlier, he was, once again fighting against himself to make a new step ahead. Without finishing his sentence, he bent to catch his bag, took the enveloppes and photographs he had found in Phoenix and gave it to Allura who let out a small surprised gasp.

“Well.” She started while taking one of the enveloppes. “Feels strange to see these letters again!”

Keith gave her a perplex look, for some reason he had thought that maybe this correspondence with Lance had been kept secret from her. 

“I was the one posting them for Lance, he was too young to go to the post office by himself at that time, I can’t believe you kept them all.” She confessed, a moved smile drawing across her face.

Reassured by her reaction, Keith still couldn’t think about confessing the truth… That these mails had spent several years covered in dust in some old cardboard. Maybe for now it was safer to… Slightly modulate the truth.

“I had them in my bedroom, and after reading them again, I wanted to take news from you all, I really didn’t want to come back like this without a warning, but I couldn’t find any mean to contact anybody before to decide to come!”

Wrong, he could have. Sure, his nocturnal researches had given nothing about Lance, but he had however found a phone number that was supposed to be the Altea’s. He had thought about calling to find out if the McClain were still owning it, but he had been too scared of the answer to do it.

“That’s really nice of you. It’s really touching to see these mails again, I’m sure Lance will be very moved to read them.”

“Lance”... Hearing his name escaping  Allura’s lips and making its way to his hears, Keith felt shivers once again, getting all of his hairs to stand. Just the thought that they were both in the same place was enough to create a feeling he couldn’t even understand, neither control. Like some sort of striking in his chest that was making it feel too heavy and too light at the same time.

“I’d really like to see him, do you…”

“Know where he is?” Allura cut before to sigh. “Well , here’s the thing with Lance, he could be anywhere! He’s not working today so maybe he’s at his home, or at the beach.”

“Or somewhere in town with Coran!”. Hunk added.

“Or even at the museum with Pidge.” Matt said.

“As you can see, he’s always moving! Maybe you should just wait for him to show up?” Allura suggested.

“Or…” Matt started, “you and Hunk could go and look for him!

“Look for him? “ Keith repeated.

“Yes Matt’s right, Hunk knows all the places where Lance likes to spend time, even places I don’t even know of myself.” She said, throwing a perplex look to Hunk who just avoided it. “Go together and come back to the restaurant if you can’t find him, he usually stops by at least once a day.”

Keith looked at Hunk, waiting for his consent, maybe the guy wasn’t super hyped about spending the whole afternoon wandering through Varadero with him after all…

“Fine with me!” Hunk exclaimed with a smile, as if he had read Keith’s mind. “Let’s take the car!”

 

**Justin Bieber - Sorry (Leroy Sanchez spanish cover)**

 

Riding with Hunk was surprisingly relaxing, he had stopped asking dozens of questions as earlier in the restaurant and was simply looking at the road, a smile on his sweet face, humming songs, letting spanish lyrics escape his lips from time to time. For the first time since his arrival, Keith felt at peace. Now that they were alone, a question was occupying his mind since they had left the Altea.

“I… Uh, was wondering…”

Hunk stopped his humming and looked quickly at Keith.

“What was Allura meaning when she said you knew places Lance likes to spend time at that she doesn’t?” He asked shyly.

“Oh! Uh… This is... “ He started laughing uncomfortably. “That’s nothing, it’s just that sometimes Lance is nowhere to be found simply because he’s hiding and…”

“Hiding ?” Keith asked.

“Yeah, uh. Let’s say he sometimes just needs time on his own and most of the time when Allura can’t contact him she just go looking for him to make sure he’s alright so he makes sure to have a few spots kept secret from her.”

It sounded strange. Allura had always been super protective with Lance as a child, which was normal, he was his only family and thus she made sure to always keep him safe from any kind of harm, but he was something like 18 now, so why all the stalking to look after him?

“And… You know… These spots?”

“I do! But regarding the time, he must be somewhere with Coran, maybe dancing on the terrace of the Havana Cafe”.

“Dancing?”

“Yes! Our Lance is incredibly good at it! Maybe you’ll get the occasion to see him perform!” Hunk answered, winking at Keith before to take his eyes back on the road.

So, Lance was dancing. What kind of dance? Maybe he had been taking classes in his childhood? Keith didn’t remember his friend mentioning it in his letters though… This will be one of the numerous questions he would ask him… If they met. And if Lance still wanted to see him.

  
  
  
  
  
  


The long “Finding Lance” ride took all afternoon, Varadero consisted in a long, large avenue surrounded by a few perpendicular streets, most of the time leading to dead-ends. Each time they were witnessing tall, tanned silhouettes, Hunk was slowing down, but their friend was nowhere to be found. Hunk had stopped by the “Havana Cafe” where he had found the mentioned Coran, a nice old man with white hair and a puffy mustache upon his jovial face, he unfortunately didn’t know where Lance could be. 

As the sun was slowly setting down on the promenade, Keith couldn’t help but to feel disappointment wander through his chest.

“Hey, don’t worry.” Hunk said, as if he had perceived Keith’s torment. “Night’s falling, which means he’ll eventually come out of his cave! For now, we must go back to the restaurant, It’s almost 7 and I’m taking my service.”

“Yes sure, let’s go back.”

Hunk reluctantly drove back to the end of the promenade, sorry not to have been able to help. And Keith was even more sorry, he could feel it. He had always been good at reading through people, after all.

As they parked in front of the backshop, sun had just disappeared and shades of soft pink were now painting the sky. Keith gestured to the car door, ready to get out when Hunk seized him by his shoulders.

“Wait! There’s a place I forgot!”

Surprised by his sudden revigorance, Keith flinched and hit the top of his head against the car’s roof, letting a pained growl escape his throat.

“Oh! Sorry! Are you alright?!”

“Yeah, yeah, that’s nothing. What is the place you were talking about?” He quickly asked.

“ I always forget about it! Not that I’m always forgetting stuff, I mean, it happens sometimes but this place is not that old and most of the time I just…”

“Hunk?”. Keith asked before to face another storm of words.

“It’s the pool!”

“Eh? Pool?”

“Yes! At the very end of the promenaden next to the Playa Alameda Hotel, there’s a public pool! Well, not that public, it’s not done actually, they’re trying to turn it into some spa complex so the whole place is closed for construction works”

Keith first spent a couple of seconds asking himself what was the interest of  building  a pool in a seaside resort completely surrounded by the ocean but then he thought about what Hunk had just said and took his attention back to him.

“But, if it’s closed, why would L-”

“He has the keys!”

“Uh? But, Ho-”

“Oh he’ll tell you! But that’s a place you should probably look at! Wait for me, I’m gonna find something to write the address on, that way I’m sure you won’t get lost!”

  
  
  
**Sleeping At Last - Saturn**   
  
  


Keith was standing in front of the building, despite the falling night and the progressive darkness of the streets, it hadn’t been too difficult to find his way. The public pool comprised an imposing white building, the back of it was surrounded by scaffolding, probably for the workers, and on the front door he could see a huge poster saying “ Under construction”.

Not only that he was wondering the reason for building a pool in one of the most beautiful seaside resorts in the world, Keith was also thinking about how anybody could actually get in there. The door was obviously locked and there was absolutely no sign of a presence inside. 

As he was sighing heavily from exasperation, he felt the vibrations of his phone in his pants, as he took it out of his pocket, he could see the name of his brother appearing and shaking violently along with the ringtone’s vibrations.

  
  
  
  


For a second he thought about answering, slightly brushing his thumb over the unlock button, his brother had been waiting for news from him since his departure, and after spending the whole day going back to his past, he hadn’t found the time to dine or to find a place to stay for the night. And as it was clear Lance  wasn’t here, why should he stay?

The flood of thoughts led his gaze to fall upon the back of the building, overhung by huge patio doors with a blurred glass, preventing anybody from seeing the inside. 

Keith put his phone back into the pocket of his jeans, ignoring the repetitive vibrations. Shiro would have to wait.

As he was heading towards, he soon noticed the fire door which was slightly, just slightly open, just enough not to be too obvious.

Intrigued, lifted by some unrealistic hope that  the one he was looking for was inside, Keith pushed the heavy door, diving into the obscurity.

  
  


As he was carefully walking inside the pool cold hallways, Keith was trying to calm his fears down looking at the inside of the building. The  construction works might have been practically done, the cloakrooms were all settled, large partitions separating each cabin. Each time he was passing by one, Keith couldn’t help but to take a quick look behind him, worried about the thought of being plunged in complete darkness, As a kid, he had never liked obscurity. The feeling of sun hiding, when the night creates unrealistic forms and terrifying shapes. And even now that he was older, he still had this night-time aprehension, pushing him to rush his way to the pools which were fortunately surrounded by the large patio doors he had seen from the outside.

Before to pass the last hallway, he stood still and took a few seconds to look at the water. It seemed quiet, silent, with a familiar smell of chlorine spreading across the room. A straight contrast with the salty air of the beach, he thought.

He reluctantly entered, although he felt relieved to be under the light again. The night was exceptionally bright, and the stars were forming a huge clear veil reflecting on the panes… Which was making it easy to notice that there wasn’t anybody to be seen inside the pool.

“Why are you even disappointed?” Keith told himself, “What were you expecting to this point? Why would he even come here anyways?”

But he had hoped, he really had. He had imagined some moving reunion, something joyful, sunny, not this nocturnal coldness stinking of bleach. 

It was getting really late now and he couldn’t ignore Shiro’s calls anymore. He was probably just a few seconds away from calling the cuban authorities to signal his disappearance. 

Keith turned away, ready to go back outside when a violent noise rang out next to the deep end pool. A big “splash!” followed by a deep, loud inhaling sound.

 

Surprised, Keith suddenly turned back before to lean against the wall, looking for some support. Was darkness playing with his mind? It really seemed like a form had just emerged from the water to stare at him, probably waiting for his reaction.

First disconcerted, disturbed by the fast beating of his agitated heart, Keith stood back before to find the courage to head towards  the pool, he needed to check whether or not his exhausted mind wasn’t showing him some sort of imaginary ghost coming to drown him. 

As his feet were slowly going ahead, the shadow had moved just under the light of the panes, making it easier to see it properly.  


And suddenly, Keith saw them. Those eyes.

Those blue eyes. A blue even deeper than the bleached water of the pool, even deeper than the one crashing into waves on the rocks of the beach... It was just the bright reflection of two sparkling sapphires shaded by long black lashes on which droplets of water were hanging, before to fall and roll from the cheeks to the corner of the  mouth.. A slightly open mouth so beautiful it might only let out a beautiful voice. 

Coming out of the dark in his turn, Keith tried his best to calm the crazy beating of his heart, looking for all the strenght he could find to get words to come out of his throat. This was so surrealistic, it just couldn't be true. This couldn't really be..

 

"Lance?"

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still there ? Well, I guess you enjoyed the chapter ? What do you think will happen in chapter 4 ? Will Lance be happy to see his childhood friend after all this time ? I'm curious to know what you guys think that could happen !   
> Also, what do you guys think about the soundtrack added to each chapter ? Did you discover some songs/scores you didn't know about ? Let me know ! 
> 
> Also, if you guys like the fanart of the fic and want to see more of my drawings, find me on instagram : @sharpkatsudon
> 
> See you for chapter 4 !


	4. Waffles

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys ! 
> 
> There we go with this new chapter of "Where Fireworks Grow" ! I hope you willl like it ! I apologize for taking time tu upload new chapters but I've recently moved to the UK where I'll be staying for two months! Hopefully this time abroad will inspire me even more for my future works!
> 
> Again a huge thanks to @lewisarieltrashy who's helping me to correct the text!
> 
> Enjoy!

Chapter 4 : Waffles

  
  


**Devilman Crybaby OST - Her baton**

 

_ Silence. _

This was one of the reasons why he started to come here in the first place. With the tourists arrival and all of the trouble they usually bring with them, it was impossible to fully enjoy the beach. And although they wouldn’t risk a nocturnal bath in the sea, the crowded and noisy space of terraces was too much for him to handle and had forced him to find a shelter inside the Hotel’s annex, changed into a pool to satisfy clients who would rather swim between white marble walls than in the wideness of the ocean. Luckily, Coran who knew the workers of the hotel had managed to get the keys. That wasn’t really surprising though, Coran knew everybody.

Still, he was trying to limit these illegals bath to once or twice a week so his friend wouldn’t get in trouble. He also feared Allura would end up finding him. Hunk had been discreet enough but his cousin wasn’t a fool and would discover his hiding place sooner or later. He would then have to look for another one, but for now, he was lying on his back, lulled by the water, as if he was in a sort of dream…

 

Which ended sooner than expected.

 

In a second, Lance quivered, the heavy noise of the exit door had just rang before to fade into a threatening echo. He quickly considered the options he had. Get out of the water and leave? He would never have the time, if the person who had came in was part of the hotel staff, he would know where the pool was. It was wiser to just stay where he was and wait.

His relaxed aquatic moment had been changed into a tensed atmosphere, as the pool’s water now felt incredibly cold to his skin. He almost wished he would get discovered so he could quickly come back home.

After a few minutes of complete silence, he heard light steps sounds, no matter how discreet they were though, he could feel the person getting closer, caught out, he took a long inhale before to immerge himself into the water, this way he could temporarily escape to the intruder’s view who would leave after seeing the pool was empty.

Seconds quickly felt longer than hours as time was passing and the water englobing all the sounds couldn’t enable him to figure if the person had left the room. And no matter how much he usually loved it, he needed to get out of it if he didn’t want to sink into the pool. Out of breath, he jumped out of the water, inhaling so hard he could have taken the air out of the whole place.

 

As his breathing came back to normal, Lance felt the visitor’s gaze on him. There he was, standing in front of the pool, just a few inches away from the exit’s hallway.

Without a word, Lance slowly moved to the patio doors on which the light was reflecting, maybe that way he could see the intruder’s face more precisely.

The stranger made a few steps forward, the shape of his figure getting clearer as he was heading to the lighted part of the pool, until he was fully visible.

 

And suddenly Lance saw them. Those eyes.

 

Those purple eyes. A purple even clearer than the touches that paint the sky at dusk and even darker than the ones covering it on winter nights… It was just the bright reflection of two perfect amethysts upon two red cheeks, coloring a sweet face, hidden behind long black locks.

 

Then, slowly moving towards the pool’s edge, trying to calm his shaking body, Lance wondered if this wasn’t simply a dream. It was so unlikely to happen. This couldn’t be..

 

“Keith?”

  
  


 

 

 

 

 

 

_________________________________________________________________________

 

“Lance?”

 

The time had stopped, as if everything had just disappeared, the smell of chlorine, the sound of water drops crashing in the pool depths, the night’s air wrapping the building. As a paused movie, and they were watching each other. Each eyes plunged into the other’s, too scared to do or to say anything.

Keith couldn’t feel his heartbeats anymore, actually, he couldn’t feel anything. It was like he wasn’t really there. As if the body he was in, wasn’t his. As if he was watching the whole scene through somebody else’s eyes. It was Lance, he was really there. In front of him, gazing at him, probably asking himself who this weird guy could be…

Afterall, it was absolutely impossible that Lance knew it was…

 

“Keith?”

Keith blinked, distraught by the sound that had just got out of the young man’s mouth. A reassuring, warm, familiar sound, and yet, so different from the one he had heard as a child. But, how was it possible that he knew which name to call? He couldn’t have recognized him, that wasn’t possible, not after ten years without a single trace of him. What was the probability that he had recognized the pouty child he had shared waffles with a few years ago?

 

“Keith?  Is- Is that you?” He asked while heading towards the young man, his hands getting out of the waterto find some support upon the pool’s edge. Keith headed too, unable to ignore the long, delicate fingers that had just appeared next to him. God, these were nothing similar to the one he had as a child.

“Is everything alright?”

Without a word, Keith turned his look away from the guy’s hands to look back into his eyes, they were just a few inches away now, and they could attentively observe each other. Keith was trying to capture the intense blue of Lance’s eyes, but they were constantly moving, too  busy scanning his own silhouette.

Eager to do the same, Keith kneeled to the edge, making sure not to get to close to get to Lance’s height.

This long silence, broken by a few nervous breathings was making the scene even more surrealist than it already was. And the more Lance’s eyes were watching him, the more Keith wished he could capture them, and so he was getting closer, a little more, to the point he could feel the wet skin of his childhood’s friend on his burning body. And after getting a few inches closer… Just a few… 

  
  


_ Splash _

 

**Free Iwatobi Swim Club OST - Timid Boy**

  
  


“What the hell!” He groaned as his head was emerging from the water, shaking his soaked hair to get rid of the strands sticking over his face. Apparently, he had got too close from the edge. Ashamed, he turned to Lance. The young man hadn’t moved, there he was, in front of Keith, silently gazing at him, an blank expression over his face… Until one side of his mouth started to curve. He immediately bit his lip, nervously trying to hold back… Before to let out a loud laugh which soon started to spread across the whole building. 

“What’s so funny?” Keith cursed, an exasperated look on his face.

“God, it is really you! Only the real Keith could be so clumsy and ridiculous!” Lance exclaimed between two giggles.

Keith felt like he should have been offended by what the man had just said, but this feeling was completely erased by the fact that his childhood friend apparently remembered him. And to be honest, who could have been mad at Lance after seeing his smile? Large, white, luminous… Not to mention his long eyelashes, now perfectly visible with his closed eyes. “God, why am I thinking about his eyelashes?!” Keith suddenly thought, getting out of his daydream as Lance was getting out of the pool.

“We should probably get out before you catch a cold, don’t you think, mullet?” He teased, before to kneel down and give him a hand.

“Don’t call me that.” Keith muttered.

Now that they were both outside, standing in front of each other, Keith realized what the notions of time and change really meant. Lance was taller than him, longer, with endless, slender legs, assembled with a slim, harmonious waist and defined muscles. Especially those on his back, drops of water were literally dripping along the small of his back, revealing an arch he didn’t have back then. He was still watching Keith, until their eyes met, he then turned away, suggesting to join the lockers to get his stuff back. And, as they were walking, Keith swore he could have seen a slight blush over his cheeks.

 

The echo provoked by Lance’s laughter had faded away and as the two men were changing, a light silence was now englobing the locker rooms. After having dried himself with the towel Lance had handed to him, Keith stared at the pile of clothes that were lying on the floor.

“Great.” He muttered.

“You can take my shirt.” Lance suggested.

“What about you?”

The young man took out a large black sweatshirt from the backpack he had put in one of the lockers.

“I’m gonna put that on, nights aren’t cold here.”

Keith did as told without a word, before something clicked into his mind and he threw himself on his soacked pants.

“What’s happening?”

“My phone! It stayed in my pants!”

He desperately tried to switch the device on, cursing  himself for being stupid enough to fall into the water.

“Shiro’s gonna kill me…”

“Shiro? You  mean, your brother? Is he here with you?”

“No, I came alone, but I was supposed to call him after I landed and I still haven’t-”

“When you landed? For how long have you been here?”

“I landed this morning, but first I looked for a hotel, and then I went to the restaurant, then I spent the afternoon with Hunk and-”

“With Hunk? You saw Hunk?”

“Yes, he helped me to find you, but I completely forgot to call Shiro and now the FBI’s probably signaling my disparition and oh my god he’s way too overprotective…” Keith sighed.

Lance then took his own phone out of his backpack and handed it to Keith.

“There, call him before he comes and look out for you.”

Keith immediately took the phone and hurriedly composed the number.

“Hello?”

“Shiro? It’s K-”

“Keith? Why aren’t you calling from your phone? Is everything alright? Are you hurt? Are you-”

“Hold on you crazy dad, everything’s fine I just broke my phone so Lance gave me his.”

“Lance ? You found him?”

Keith hesitated before to answer. Had he found Lance McClain? Yes. Had he found his childhood friend? It was too soon to say so.

“I don’t know yet…”

“Uh? What do you mean you don’t know? You mean it’s not him?”

“It is, I mean, no, I mean, not in that way, listen it’s getting late, I just wanted to show you I’m alive.”

Lance smiled hearing this.

“I’ll call you tomorrow, okay?”

“Okay. And, Keith?”

“Hm?”

“One step at a time.”

“Eh? What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You’ll see.” Shiro simply replied before to hang up.

“Sometimes he’s just too much…” Keith sighted before to give the phone back to Lance.

“He hasn’t changed, he’s still super protective.” He teased.

“I’m surprised you remember him.”

“It’s hard to forget that built like a tank brother of yours. And, it was literally your hero. You were always talking about becoming like him when you’ll be older.” He said before to gauge his friend’s silhouette.

“Objective failed.” He snickered.

“Shut up.”

“Kidding, mullet. C’mon, let’s get out of here before the housekeeper decides to go on a patrol. Did you dine?”

Keith shook his head.

“Well, let’s go back to the Altea, Hunk’s probably still there, he’ll cook us something!”

  
  


**Free Timeless Medley OST - Bond and Promise**

  
  


The way back from the pool had been strangely silent. Lance was talking from time to time, about the stars, the soft air, the sea smell, but he was never asking any question about Keith or the reason why he came. He was simply gazing at him for a few seconds, before to turn his look back on the horizon. As for Keith, he just couldn’t dare to do or say anything. Too busy trying to block the dozens of questions into his head. He didn’t even realized they were getting close from the Altea’s terrace where Allura was standing, a severe expression on her face, the hands firmly placed on her hips.

“That’s not the time to come! You had a service to take tonight!” She scolded.

“Hey! Not my fault! I had to pick up a visitor!” Lance exclaimed, turning to Keith. 

“Anyways, I suppose you guys haven’t eaten, come in, Hunk is waiting for you.”

  
  


“Voila! The “ _Papa Rellena”_ by Hunk ! _Bon Appetit!”_ He said after theatrically putting the tray on the table.

“Hunk, buddy, I love you.” Lance answered, inhaling the meal’s smell. “I could have killed for this.”

“So would have the clients that were waiting for you to serve them.” Allura replied.

“I already apologized! And if I had taken my service I wouldn’t have found Keith!” He tried to justify, a large grin across his face.

“You spoiled brat. Keith should have waited for you here, that poor boy spent his whole afternoon looking for you with Hunk.”

When he heard his cousin, Lance raised his look to Keith who lowered his.

“Is that true?” He asked.

“Well, no, I mean, not all the afternoon, and I had time so…” Keith shyly replied while clumsily serving his plate trying his best to avoid Lance’s eyes.

“At least I hope you managed to find a room.” Allura said.

“Well…” Keith started, quickly feeling everybody’s eyes on him.

“You haven’t found one?” Hunk asked.

“You told me you had found one this morning.” Lance cut.

“I looked for one, but then I went to the Altea and…”

“You can’t spend the night outside!” Allura cut too, “You’ll stay here!”

“Yes, you can stay at my place.” Lance suggested.

“No, I don’t want to cause you trouble, there are hotels everywhere I’ll-”

“Oh there’s no way he’s making a single step inside that mess you call a home Lance. No, he’ll sleep  above the restaurant!” Allura retorted before to stare at her cousin. 

“What?”

“What are you waiting for? Go up and get the bedroom ready! It was yours afterall, you know where all the bedding is.”

“But, my papa rellenas are gonna be cold!”

“Matt will reheat it.”

Lance got up, muttering before to head to the kitchens where the stairs leading to the apartment were.

“Thanks Lance!” Allura hummed in a fawning tone.

Keith, who was now feeling uncomfortable without his friend’s presence secretly got up of his chair.

“Maybe I should go and give him a hand.” He shyly suggested before to eclipse in the kitchens as well before anybody could say anything.

  
  


When he reached the studio above the restaurant, Keith felt a wave of nostalgy take over him. His confused memories had left  a certain impression of this place, and as he was making his way to join Lance to the bedroom, he felt like he was traveling through time. The hallway wallpaper was a little worn, but he still could see the starfishes on it, the living room hadn’t changed either. Back then, Keith would spend a lot of nights sleeping at Lance’s place, they would watch tv for hours, especially Lance’s favorite show, “Voltron Legendary Defender”, or at least they would until Allura would take them to bed.

As he was standing against the door’s framing, staring at the room, Keith felt a warm breath in his neck.

“Brings back memories, isn’t it?” Lance said just behind him.

As he felt his voice ringing against his skin, Keith felt a shiver crossing his whole body.

“Your room’s ready. It’s not the Playa Caleta’s suite, but it’s still comfortable. Allura regularly cleans the place, as if we had never left!”

“You don’t live here anymore?”

“We could hardly. Allura and Matt have their own house near the museum and I rent a small studio next to the beach’s cove. You know, the one where we met for the first time?”

Of course he knew. But for a certain reason, he thought it was better not to show too much attachment for the past. At least for now.

“Vaguely. And, Allura and Matt..?”

“Are together, yes. Actually, Matt has always had a crush on Allura, everybody have. I’m even sure you brother had one as well .”

Keith shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly.

“Anyways, nobody was surprised when they started dating. Now all we’re waiting for with Pidge and Hunk is for Matt to propose! Do you want some more pillows?”

“I’ll be fine, thanks.”

“Okay.” Lance answered before to head back to the stairs. “I should go back home now, I got a service tomorrow, I left a pj and a teethbrush just in case, but feel free to search if you need anything else.”

He gave a last smile to Keith before to quickly go downstairs. He was probably feeling too uncomfortable to stay longer. Keith stayed a few minutes in the hallway, maybe in the hope that he’ll come back, before to head to the bedroom. The feeling of finding himself alone, in these walls he had spent to much time in as a child was now leaving him nostalgic, needy of going back to the start. Envious to see everything becoming more natural, spontaneous between him and Lance, envious to see the letters, the goodbyes disappearing. Suddenly, he realized he was starting to overthink again and closed his eyes, trying his best to find sleep.

  
  


**Troye Sivan - For Him**

 

Daylight was enough to wake him up the day after, Lance had never wanted curtains as a kid, he would rather wake up to the sun.

Keith couldn’t feel the same. His adventures from the day before had left him exhausted and he could have spent much more time in bed. Mainly to recover, but also to escape the tensed atmosphere that was taking place each time he was finding himself with Lance. Still, he heard noise coming from downstairs and thought it would be better to change and show up. He thus reluctantly left the bed and headed to the bathroom.

 

After a quick shower that helped him to get completely awake, Keith put on a red shirt and an old ripped jean before to carefully go downstairs, worried about confronting anybody. As he was getting to the kitchens he could hear people chatting in the dining room. Since when was the Altea opened on mornings?

“Hey ! Keith ! Buddy! You’re awake!”

Keith jumped as he hadn’t seen Hunk coming.

“Oh sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you!”

“No no, it’s okay. I was just a little surprised. Actually I didn’t remember it was opened on mornings.”

“It wasn’t! But since the _“Lance Show”_ breakfast club attracts so many people, we’re doing it twice a week now!”

“The Lance Show?” Keith asked, perplex.

Hunk simply indicated him the dining room without a word, a slight smile on his lips. Keith turned away and pushed the door…

 

** Tove Styrke - Number One **

 

The room was full… of girls. Blond, ginger, skinny, curvy, young, older…  But all wearing the same blissful smile on their faces as a slender figure was making its way through the room. 

“Lance! I’m still waiting for my chocolate!” A brunette girl exclaimed.

“I didn’t forget beautiful, _Lancey Lance_ ’s coming in a minute.” Lance answered before to give her a flirty wink, having her giggling with her friends.

Maybe it was his luminous smile, maybe it was the way his apron was tightly tied around his waist, maybe it was the curves of his hips perfectly hugged his black jeans but it was obvious the clients were coming to see Lance’s performance. Keith know understood why Hunk talked about a show. He was floating from one table to another, flirting, telling stupid pickup lines, but as dumb as it was, it was apparently working. Keith felt some sort of jealousy take over him. Not that he was sensible to Lance’s charms, but to see him acting so familiar and comfortable with people while he was being so tensed and closed with him… That was something hard to handle.

 

Without even having noticed Keith’s presence, Lance had momentarily stopped his number to take one of his friend’s order.

“I can see you’re still standing in Varadero’s hall of fame.”

“What can I say Nyma? My inner Loverboy got them blushing and instantly falling in love, I can’t help it.”

“Well, beware, you might find some serious rivalry in the new waiter.” She answered.

“New waiter?” Lance repeated.

Nyma turned her head to Keith’s direction as he was standing behind the bar, his arms 

crossed against his chest, a pouty look on his face, silently observing the way-too-familiar way the girl was getting closer to Lance’s ear.

“He’s quite cute isn’t he?” She whispered.

Lance’s cheeks suddenly became almost as red as Keith’s shirt as he quickly stood back, trying to take a nonchalant air.

“This isn’t the new waiter.” He simply replied. “I’m coming back with your smoothie in a minute.”

He headed to the bar, trying his best to hide his embarrassment and gave Keith his usual smile.

“What an early bird you are, you could have come later y’know?”

“I heard noise and I thought I should’ve come down instead of hiding up there.”

“And you did right, Hunk’s making waffles! You can go back upstairs, I’ll bring it to you in a minute!”

As nice as the offer was, Keith felt like it was made to take him back to the apartment so Lance wouldn’t have to speak with him. Without a word he did as told and went back upstairs.

Just a few minutes later, Lance came in the living room with a plate full of waffles, he delicately placed it on the table in front of Keith.

“Regular or with chocolate chunks! I also brought you some syrup and jam.” He said, taking out the pots from his apron’s pocket before to sit in front of him.

“You’re not going back downstairs?” Keith asked, surprised.

“I’m giving myself a little break. I’m dead!” Lance sighed. “Why? Do you want me to leave?”

“No!” Keith immediately exclaimed. “I mean, this is your home.” 

“Technically, it isn’t anymore. You should eat it before it gets cold.”

Keith obeyed and started to eat under Lance’s attentive gaze.

“Slow down or you’re gonna suffocate yourself.”

Suffocate ? That was probably the best option at this point. Keith hated the feeling of being observed.

“Can I get a bite?”

Keith took a few seconds to understand the question, before to pull himself together and cut a piece of waffle  he handed to Lance. The young man delicately took it, his lips brushing the fork in such a languorous way Keith had to turn his head so that his friend couldn’t see him blushing.

“Do you remember the first time you came at the restaurant?” He asked. “You said you weren’t hungry and ordered nothing, so I gave you half of my waffle.”

“Is that some hidden way to say you want me to give you half of mine?” Keith answered, his face still turned.

“No no, I just wanted to know if you remembered.” Lance teased.

“Of course I do.”

“It must feel awkward to be here? To see how everything changed.”

“I don’t feel like the place changed a lot.”

“I changed.”

Keith felt a shiver run across his spine, was this a warning? Was he trying to say he had nothing to expect from the past?

“You changed too, but, you still have a mullet.”

“Stop it.”

“And you’re still a grumpy guy, aren’t you?”

“I’m not.”

“Yes you are, pretty sure Hunk thinks the same, and so will Pidge.”

“Pidge?” Keith answered, “Where is she?”

“Today? In Havana with Coran! It’s true that you still haven’t seen her!  To sum it up, it’s like a mini Matt, same hair, same eyes, same genius brain.”

“Do you often go to the capital?”

“To avoid tourists, yes. And as Coran knows everybody there we usually get free drinks. You’ve never been right?”

“No, when we came here Shiro wanted us to stick to Varadero.”

“You know…” Lance started. “It’s only 2 hours away from here, my service ends in an hour, we can go after that if you want?”

It took a few seconds to Keith to realize the offer his friend had just made. A whole day with Lance in the colored streets of Havana? With the possibility of talking more about their past? It almost seemed too good. Afterall, the opposite could happen as well… The day could be made of the same tensed silence… But he would only know it if he tried… So…

“Okay.”

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still there? Nice ! Let me know what you think about this new chapter ! (Do you know the Papa Rellenas are a real hispanic meal?)  
> What do you think will happen next? How will Lance and Keith trip to the capital go? 
> 
> You'll find out in the 5th chapter : Havana !

**Author's Note:**

> You're still there ? 
> 
> Nice, I hope you enjoyed this first chapter of "Where Fireworks Grow". I'm already working on chapter two and three but still don't know how long this story will be, You can find the fanarts on tumblr and Ig (SharpKatsudon) ! 
> 
> See you for the next chapter : Boxes and Photographs


End file.
